In advance of Book Expo, the American Booksellers Association told the AP that the organization added 78 members in the last year, growing to 1,835 members overall. Members store locations totaled 2,470, an increase of 149 from a year ago. That follows a quieter year, in which core membership had declined by 18 and member locations had grown by only 10 stores. ABA ceo Oren Teicher says in that in the first four months of 2018, ABA member stores reporting sales to Bookscan grew unit sales by over 5 percent — more or less in line with (actually slightly below) […]
Bookstores
People, Etc.: Leaver Resigns from Quarto, and More
Following the surprise annual meeting vote restoring co-founder Laurence Orbach as executive chairman of the Quarto board, company ceo Marcus Leaver has resigned his position. Chuk Kin Lau, who owns a 27-percent stake in the company and also joined the board in the recent will serve as interim ceo. Leaver said in the announcement: “I would like to thank everyone at Quarto for their hard work and resilience during my tenure as CEO.” Orbach writes: “The continued output of very high-quality books is a testament to Marcus’s leadership and an impressive demonstration of the strengths of Quarto’s talented employees. Quarto remains focused […]
People, Etc.
Will Lippincott has joined Aevitas Creative Management as an agent, based in Los Angeles. Previously he was an agent and founding partner at Lippincott, Massie & McQuilkin until he left there in late 2016 “to find new paths.” At Simon & Schuster Children’s, Nicole Ellul has been promoted to editor for Simon Pulse; Sarah McCabe becomes associate editor for Simon Pulse; and Tricia Lin moves up to assistant editor for Aladdin. Diego Molano Rodriguez joins the marketing department as marketing coordinator, moving over from the sales department where he was most recently sales assistant. Former Baltimore Sun books editor Michael Pakenham, 85, died May 9 in Hanover, […]
Amazon Says Over 1 Million Modest-Sized US Businesses Are Sellers; Opposes New Seattle Employee Tax
Is Amazon killing businesses around the country or enabling the creation and growth of new businesses — or could it be both? The company responded to charges that they are hollowing out traditional retailers and the communities they help sustain with a Small Business Impact Report. Previously Amazon has provided only a worldwide number for third-party sellers on their platform — more than two million — but the new study says there are “more than a million” US-based small- and medium-sized businesses sell through the site. Of those, over 300,000 just started selling on Amazon in 2017. And, going back […]
Amazon Launches Book Subscription Box for Children
Amazon has entered the burgeoning business of book subscription boxes with their Prime Book Box program. The new initiative provides a collection of “books tailored to your child’s age” — two hardcovers, or four board books for kids 2 and under — sent every 1, 2 or 3 months, priced at $22.99 per box, plus tax. For now the program is offered to Amazon Prime members in the US only. They say that books in the boxes will be selected by a combination of “expert recommendations from our Amazon Books editors and customer ratings and reviews. Subscribers are presented with a […]
Briefs: Arrest Boosts McNamara Book, Academy Considers Skipping 2018 Nobel for Literature, and More
The surprise arrest of a suspect in the Golden State Killer case on Wednesday caused a surge of interest in the late Michelle McNamara‘s I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, published February 22. Harper reports that they have reprinted 75,000 copies in response, bringing them up to 175,000 copies in print, with digital versions currently ranked No. 1 at Kindle and iBooks, and No. 2 at Audible. Through April 22, Bookscan had recorded sales of approximately 51,000 hardcovers in the eight weeks on sale. Awards The Edgar Awards were presented across multiple categories Thursday night. Winners included: Bluebird, Bluebird, by Attica Locke […]